Japanese Aesthetic Principles, Digital Product Design and Top Gun
Japanese philosophy and culture have been an area of interest for me, long before I lived in Japan and began my journey as a designer.
In an attempt to improve my craft, I thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at some of these principles in relation to digital product design.
“Japanese Aesthetic Principles” have been studied for the last two hundred years by westerners, in an attempt to define the undefinable and understand more about the magic contained on that island in Pacific Ocean.
The principles, or ideals, themselves are ancient.
It’s worth noting, that Zen Buddhism has such an influence on Japanese culture, in particular aesthetics, these terms could also be termed ‘Zen’.
Top Gun found me a little earlier in life, and is the final ingredient sprinkled into my article soup.
Why?
Firstly, I like to include references to it wherever possible.
Secondly, I think it’s important to draw parallels between design and all aspects of life, both philosophical and Tom Cruise related.
Disclaimer: The following words, like most things Zen are hard to define, let alone translate. They can have different meanings depending on the context. I am not an expert.
Shibumi
Understated beauty.
Elegance.
What most people think of when it comes to Japanese design.
Traditionally speaking, this is considered something innate and subconscious, and not something which is certain to be achieved with effort.
However, as designers, it’s something we have to work hard towards creating for the people who use our products.
It’s our responsibility as designers to help people and to solve problems.
We want to make things easier.
We want to make things better.
Why not do this with a touch of elegance?
Stop trying to add more features, colours, animations and complexity.
They should be sprinkled on top of the experience when necessary.
Focus on the cake before adding the icing.
Maverick may be the best in the game, but he didn’t have much elegance.
Don’t be like that.
And don’t design like that.
Let’s raise the bar together.
Kanso
Following on nicely, we have Kanso.
Simplicity and the removal of the unnecessary.
I believe Uber is a great example of this in practice.
As somebody looking to travel, I can get from A to B with very little effort.
The user has a very simple experience which is incredibly well designed:
- Current location is detected upon opening the app
- Enter destination
- Choose and confirm Uber option
Two actions are required by a user for what one would assume to be the most common transportation problems people face:
“I am currently here and want to go there”.
I believe Instagram is also a product which was a good example of Kanso. However, I have noticed it becoming increasingly complex over the last year, which has caused me personally, quite a bit of frustration.
As the platform develops it will be interesting to see how well the team manage to retain what made Instagram so great; its simplicity and minimalism, whilst adding more complex features.
I believe that Airbnb faces a similar challenge.
At the moment, I still believe that Airbnb is incredibly well designed.
But by adding more features beyond “a place to stay” and helping people find a “home away from home”, they face a challenge to maintain that simplicity and focus on solving the key problem for people which they originally focused on.
In attempting to solve more problems for people, there is always the risk of solving one of them less effectively, as you may be less in tune with your users’ wants and needs.
Products are like living and breathing things; they change along with the people that use them.
Strive towards simplicity when solving your problems.
Shizen
Nature or in this case; naturalness.
Even though we are designing digital products, it doesn't mean that we cant create natural experiences.
We don’t want to create confusion.
We want people to understand what they are using.
Skeuomorphism is a design trend which has lost popularity in recent years, and consists of making elements look like their real-world counterparts.
Flat design is now much more common and popular.
I’m not saying that skeuomorphism is a style which must be followed, but as we strive for minimalism and using flat design, you need to be aware of over-simplification.
Its a delicate balance between removing unnecessary elements and features, and removing too much, leaving the user with more questions than answers.
I personally like Googles Material Design and feel that it strikes a nice balance between flat and skeuomorphic.
It’s also important to be careful with your use of icons.
This isn’t the time to be overly creative.
Use icons which people understand.
If you are unsure about them or you have to design an icon for something difficult, get user feedback to make sure it’s understood.
Try to keep them as simple as possible and consider the effect of culture on Iconography.
I wrote a little about that here:
Datsuzoku
Freedom from habit.
Breaking from the routine.
As designers, we are always trying to find new solutions or try different things, so this applies more to “life as a designer” rather than the digital products themselves.
Sometimes, if you are designing an interface for a long time you enter something which I like to call “The Danger Zone”.
Everything blurs into one.
Buttons turn into words.
Words morph into buttons.
Our solutions become new problems.
Our usability testing leads to more confusion rather than clarification.
We have all been there.
You have a choice.
Goose or Maverick?
Don’t be Goose.
Don’t crash.
Get away from your desk, take a walk, or even better: go and talk to people.
Just by having a conversation you may find that you unknowingly creep closer to a solution. As a designer your ego is both your friend and your enemy.
You need to defend your design decisions and help develop the design culture within the organisation, but you need to balance that with humility.
Take a break from your routine.
A change in routine could foster a change in your outlook.
Summary
As designers, we are in the fortunate position to be able to shape digital products which help people solve problems.
I think the responsibility goes beyond that though.
People are living vicariously through their phones to the point where in many cases it is an extension of their subconscious.
Many of my friends and family members live in different countries.
Digital products like WhatsApp enable me to stay in contact with them.
All of my banking needs are handled by Monzo, a great digital product.
Monzo helps me manage my money, which gives me control over my freedom.
Consequently, I believe we have a responsibility to design great products and provide the best experience possible, while they are solving these problems.
It may be difficult to implement Japanese aesthetic style into all of your products, but I believe we can learn a lot from the aesthetic principles and apply them to our approach towards design.
Top Gun speaks for itself.
I’m always learning from Top Gun.
